US20060048296A1

US20060048296A1 - Lifting toilet seat

Info

Publication number: US20060048296A1
Application number: US10/935,751
Authority: US
Inventors: Yukio Sutou; Yoichi Suda; Kazuo Kurome; Katsuhiko Kuruma; Kenzo Nakahama; Satsuki Sawamoto
Original assignee: NPO Inc BUSINESS SUPPORT HIKAWA
Current assignee: NPO Inc BUSINESS SUPPORT HIKAWA
Priority date: 2004-09-08
Filing date: 2004-09-08
Publication date: 2006-03-09

Abstract

A lifting toilet seat including a structure of a toilet seat to be caused to lift and go down by a raising device and comprising: a toilet seat; a frame member which supports the toilet seat, is provided with a railing at both lateral upper sides of the toilet seat and also with a grip at the front upper side of the toilet seat and further provided at the lower end with a fulcrum at the front lower side of the toilet seat; and a base having a connecting part with which the fulcrum of the frame member is pivotally connected, the grip being provided at an upper end of a projection projecting upwards from a position located forward of and away from the railing.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement of a lifting toilet seat of a toilet stool moved up and down above the toilet stool in order to assist or help patients or the like in use of the toilet stool.
2. Prior Art
Various attempts of toilet stools with various structures have been proposed for assisting or helping aged people, physically handicapped persons, the subject(s), the user(s) or the like in their use of the toilet stool for excretion. For example, there has been proposed a toilet seat that is enabled to lift or go up, and naturally, go down, for the purpose of assisting the subjects upon their sitting on the toilet stool and standing up after the excretion. Such feature is generally so structured that the toilet seat is provided on a frame member pivotally supported by one or plural fulcrum(s) so as to cause the toilet seat to lift or go up and go down by means of a lifting device.
The toilet stool with the assisting or service function does generally have an object to support persons with weak or weakened leg muscles or waist for enabling them to readily use the toilet stool for excretion by himself or herself. However, the current toilet stools with that function have such a large disadvantage that those persons feel a feeling of fear in use of the current toilet stools when seating thereon for excretion or standing up thereafter largely because the current toilet stools merely have a railing to be gripped by those persons during excretion. In detail, what needed for excretion using the toilet stools are, first, to walk up to the toilet stool, to turn around to stand with their back to the toilet seat, and then, to stoop down to cause his or her hip to abut against the toilet seat and be moved down and seated on the toilet seat. In this course of preparation for using the toilet stool, the user when stands with his or her back to the toilet seat has nothing to grip or grasp and feels uneasy.
Even if the railing is provided in this case, the user when stands with his or her back to the toilet seat can find the railing only behind the body and needs to grope for the railing. And even when the user grasps the railing with both of his or her hands, the posture is unstable. Hence, it is rather unreasonable for people with weakened muscles to sustain his or her body with their hands being put behind the body. The railing is in type of being fixed or may be so structured that the railing goes up and down together with the toilet seat. However, the railing even when moved up and down is shifted at the most to the lateral sides of the body standing before the toilet stool. Even when the user grips the railing, it is hard to cause the hip to abut against the toilet seat. The user is not able to remove a feeling of uneasiness in stooping and slanting his or her body backwards without a holding point holding the body at the front side.
Furthermore, the persons needing to use the toilet stools having the assisting or service function are often required also to trust the nursing care providing persons about taking care of the user's body and excretions, i.e., clearing the body after the user's excreting. But, in the situation that the concerned person to be subjected to the nursing care sits on the toilet seat, there is only a narrow space to insert hands for taking care of the subject and excretions. Thus, it causes such problem that the person subjected to the nursing care is forced to have an unreasonable posture, such as a half-sitting posture. In this regard, the toilet stools with the assisting or service function can have a gap (formed by lifting up the toilet seat) between the toilet seat and the toilet stool in the situation of the person subjected to the nursing care keeping sitting on the toilet seat. However, there is still such problem that the toilet seat hinders the performing of taking care of the subject and excretions.
Moreover, the toilet seat is generally formed in shape of O and U. It can be said that generally the U-shaped toilet seat enables hands to be readily inserted into the toilet stool from its front side, thereby making easy the taking care of the body and excretions after excreting. The U-shaped toilet seat has also an advantage of making easy men's urinating. However, particularly regarding the taking care of the subject (s) and excretions to be performed by the nursing care providing persons after the subjects' excreting, there is no difference between the O-shaped and U-shaped types of toilet seat. That is, during taking care of the subject(s) and excretions, with the toilet seat being caused to lift or go up, the subject is additionally forced to keep the half-sitting posture, i.e., the posture that the subject lifts waist from the toilet seat.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Under the above circumstance the inventors have studied zealously the problems and achieved the present invention. The present invention relates to and is characterized in a structure of a toilet seat to be caused to lift and go down by a raising device, the structure comprising a toilet seat, a frame member which supports the toilet seat, is provided with a railing at both lateral upper sides of the toilet seat and also with a grip at the front upper side of the toilet seat and further provided at the lower end with a fulcrum at the front lower side of the toilet seat, and a base having a connecting part with which the fulcrum of the frame member is pivotally connected, the grip protruding upwards with respect to the upper end of the railing and being provided at an upper end of a projection projecting upwards from a position located forward of and away from the railing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a side view showing an example of a lifting toilet seat according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a side view showing the upper end position (posture) of the lifting toilet seat shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 3 is a side view showing an example of use of another embodiment of a lifting toilet seat according to the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a side view showing a course of use from the state shown in FIG. 3.
FIG. 5 is a side view showing a further embodiment of a lifting toilet seat according to the present invention.
FIG. 6(a) is a plan view showing a further embodiment of a lifting toilet seat according to the present invention, and FIG. 6(b) a plan view showing another example of the state of use shown in FIG. 6(a).
FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b) are side views showing a further embodiment of a lifting toilet seat according to the present invention.
FIG. 8 is a plan view showing a further embodiment of a lifting toilet seat according to the present invention.
FIG. 9(a) is a plan view showing a further embodiment of a lifting toilet seat according to the present invention omitting the back, railing and grip, and FIG. 9(b) a rear view.
FIG. 10 is a side view showing a further embodiment of a lifting toilet seat according to the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a further embodiment of a lifting toilet seat according to the present invention.
FIG. 12 is a plan view showing a further embodiment of a lifting toilet seat according to the present invention.
FIG. 13 is a plan view showing another example of the state of use of the lifting toilet seat shown in FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The “frame member” referred to in the specification may be a member for providing the toilet seat in a manner of being capable of lifting and going down. The frame member may be pivotally supported to turn around a fulcrum formed at the front lower end of a support supporting the toilet seat. The frame member is not limited in structure to any particular ones and may be made of a material such as a pipe frame of iron or aluminum, wood, rattan, plastic.
The frame member is so coupled with the base by connecting the fulcrum with the connecting part on the base (member) in a manner of being capable of turning that the frame member is turned around the fulcrum to cause the toilet seat to lift and go down. On the upper surface of the base may be set a portable toilet stool or is provided a fitting part to be fit to a built-in toilet stool. The built-in toilet stools may be those in the type of being provided in general homes, hospitals, institutions, etc. In case of adopting the built-in toilet stools, a height adjustment means may be provided at the base so as to enable the toilet seat system to correspond in height to the built-in toilet stool. The lifting toilet seat according to the present invention may be provided always in association with the built-in toilet stool. Otherwise, the lifting toilet seat may be so structured that the base is provided with a “conveyance” wheel so that the nursing care-subjected person kept on the lifting toilet seat can be taken from a bed room or the like to the place of toilet stool in such manner of attending a person on a wheel chair. In this case, it is preferable that the conveyance wheel itself may be given the function of height adjustment or may be used with the aforesaid height adjustment means.
Lifting and going down of the frame member is driven by a raising device. The raising device is not limited to any particular ones but may preferably be a device using as a drive source hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders, or an electric motor making use of household electric power, such device being high general-purposeful. A raising device using an electric motor may preferably be those structured as a thread mechanism or worm gear that not influenced by a force applied to the toilet seat. The raising device may employ a gas damper enclosing a gas such as air, other than the foregoing ones in the type of forcibly driving. The gas damper's elasticity function provides assisting of the user's sitting down or seating and standing up. Alternatively, the gas damper and the electric motor may be used together.
The raising device may be positioned laterally of the portable toilet stool or the built-in toilet stool and interposed between the frame member and the base. Basically, the raising device may be solely provided only at one side but alternatively be provided at both lateral sides of the toilet stools to enable the toilet seat to be moved up and down smoothly and in a well-balanced manner, thereby enabling a substantially heavy user to use the toilet seat without any problems.
The grip is a member formed on the frame member to be gripped by the user when sitting on the toilet seat and standing up. The grip is provided at the front upper side with respect to the toilet seat. The present invention provides the grip at the upper end of a projection projecting upwards from a position located forward of and away from the railings formed at both lateral upper sides of the toilet seat. The position where the grip is provided is located on an almost horizontally extending line extended from the railing on which the user's arms are put and the railing being to be gripped by the user's hands during excreting. And the grip at that position can be gripped by the users hands with their arms stretched when the user being in the state of sitting on the toilet seat. The grip is usually provided with a switch for the raising device. Thus, the user's body can be prevented from being thrown out forwards since the user grips the grip by hand even when the user unexpectedly turns on the switch to cause the toilet seat to go up. The switch may additionally employ a remote control switch, a foot switch or the like to preferably enable the nursing care providing persons to operate such additional switch.
The present invention provides the grip at the upper end of a projection projecting upwards from a position located forward of and away from the railings. Hence, the grips are independent bodies extending from the lower side and being quite readily gripped. The projection may use such features that the projection extends upwards from a point of height lower than a middle point in height between the railings upper surface and the toilet seat, or, the projection exists vertically or slantwise (in the direction gradually going away from the railings while extending toward the upper end) at a position forward of and away from the railings).
When the user tries to sit on the toilet seat and stands up after excreting, the frame member supporting the toilet seat is in a raised position and the grip formed on the projection of the frame member sticks out forward, serving as an ensured and reliable supporting tool for supporting the user's body. Particularly, the projections which extend from the lower side cause the users to feel as enclosed by the projections and have a vertically wider range of gripping particularly suitable for short persons or persons bent double. Also, in case that users approach the toilet stool by walking with a stick or walking along the railing formed on the wall surface and try to grasp the grip for holding the user's body, it is possible to grasp by both hands the grip or the projection at one lateral side of the toilet seat, and it becomes easy to turn over the body before the toilet seat without necessity of re-grasping. In addition, it becomes easy to let the hip abut against the toilet seat while applying the weight of user to the grip. When the hip is brought into contact with the toilet seat in its upper end position, a feeling of uneasiness can be wiped away. Sitting on the toilet seat is then achieved merely by turning on the switch in the case using the electric motor or merely by acting to sit in the case using the gas damper.
The toilet seat to be mounted on the supporting part for the toilet seat on the frame member may use an ordinary U-like or O-like shape type of toilet seat and may also mount a toilet seat having function of washing the hip (a device comprising a toilet seat with functions of jetting warm water and drying the hip). In case of using such toilet seat having the hip washing function, a coupler which can make connection by one-touch may be provided, so that the toilet seat is connected with a water piping in the bath (rest) room to readily receive supply of tap water. Such toilet seats may be caused to lift and go down above the portable or built-in toilet stools in order to provide the assisting or service during the user's excreting. For the persons who cannot by themselves do taking care of the body and excretions after excreting, the aforesaid toilet seat having the hip washing function is extremely useful but expensive substantially. Hence, such features that the supporting part for the toilet seat is provided with a cut at the rear central part and the U-shaped toilet seat is enabled to be mounted longitudinally reversely may be provided, whereby enabling the nursing care providing persons to readily deal with or take care of specific excretions after the foregoing excretion. In addition, there is no need for the subjects subjected to the nursing care to do half-sit over or keep waist away from the toilet seat during receiving the care, resulting in almost no load to the subjects. Furthermore, the toilet seat may be structured as comprising two members longitudinally paralleled mutually and having a central longitudinal interval between them, the above-said effects can be obtained without detaching and re-mounting operation, although the U-shaped toilet seat necessitates to be re-mounted longitudinally reversely.
The lifting toilet seat according to the present invention when installed in a bedroom or a hospital room may associate with a shift supplementing means which is stretched between the bed and the lifting toilet seat, thereby enabling the subjects kept in the sitting state to be shifted from the bed to the toilet seat. For this feature, the frame member may be provided sideways with a connecting part for the shift supplementing means so as to achieve high safety. The connecting part for the shift supplementing means formed on the frame member may be so structured as ensuring that the shift supplementing means does not easily come out of the frame member upon the shifting operation. The subjects when move to the lifting toilet seat from the shift supplementing means they sit on are hindered by the railing and grip which may be structured as detachable.

Preffered Embodiments of the Invention

Next, the present invention will be detailed with referring to the attached drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a lifting toilet seat 1 according to the present invention. A toilet seat 2 is mounted on a frame member 3 and is enabled to lift and go down around an axis provided by a fulcrum 4 formed on the frame member 3 at the front and lower end with respect to the toilet seat 2. A raising device 6 for lifting up and moving down the frame member 3 is structured to expand and contract a screw shaft 5 by means of an electric motor (housed inside) and is connected between the frame member 3 and a base member 10 in a manner of being capable of being rotated. In this example, the frame member 3 is connected at the fulcrum 4 with the base 10 in a manner of being capable of being rotated, and a portable type of toilet stool 11 is installed on the base 10. A wheel 12 is provided at the rear end of the base 10 as shown so that the whole unit can be moved with the front end of the base 10 being picked up and pulled. The base member 10 may be formed in a plate-like shape but alternatively have a hollow inside to accommodate wiring of the raising device 6.
In the present invention the frame member 3 is provided with a railing 7 and also a grip 8 on an almost horizontally extended line extending from the railing 7. The grip 8 is provided on an end of a projection 35 projecting vertically on the frame member 3 and has a switch 9 for the raising device 6. The railing 7 is provided for supporting the user's body when sits on the toilet seat 2, and the grip 8 is what the user to grip when the user tries, starts or is about to sit on the seat or to stand up from the sitting position or posture. The projection 35 to provide the grip 8 is at a position located forward of and away from the railing 7 and projects upwards from a root portion the railing 7. Accordingly, the grip 8 leans slantwise and can function and serve as an independent holding means without being influenced by existence of the railing 7 when the toilet seat 2 is in the upper end position as shown in FIG. 2.
The user may grip the grip 8 (located forward of the user as shown in FIG. 3) in such manner of leaning on the grip 8 for causing the body of the user to be supported and eliminating a feeling of uneasiness. In this state, when the user stoops, causing hip to abut against the toilet seat 2 while applying weight of the user to the grip 8 as shown in FIG. 4, the user is able to perform a series of concerned actions almost without feeling a fear. When the hip abuts against the toilet seat 2, the user merely applies weight to the toilet seat 2 so as to be automatically moved down to the sitting position by the raising device 6. This example shows the raising device 6 using a gas damper 13.
The whole shape of the lifting toilet seat 1 may be formed with a smooth curve as shown in FIG. 5 to express a soft visual impression and a soft feel. Particularly, the frame member 3 at the part of the fulcrum 4 does likely catch the user's foot and may be preferably located as lower as possible as shown in the drawing.
The lifting toilet seat 1 according to the present invention may be applied to a built-in toilet stool 14 installed in a rest room in ordinary homes as shown in FIG. 6(b), other than the indoor usable system using the portable toilet stool 11 on the base member 10 shown in FIG. 6(a). In this case, the base member 10 is provided at its rear part with a fitting part 141 so that the built-in toilet stool 14 is installed with the toilet seat 2 of the lifting toilet seat 1 being positioned above the built-in toilet stool 14.
The lifting toilet seat 1 may be so installed to the built-in toilet stool 14 as shown in FIG. 7(a) that an installing means 101 having function of height adjustment is set to the base member 10 to enable the toilet seat 1 to correspond in height to the built-in toilet stool 14. The installing means 101 may be freely laid on the floor surface of the rest room or preferably be fixed on the floor surface by use of nails or the like. Moreover, the conveyance wheel 102 may be mounted to the base member 10 as shown in FIG. 7(b) so that persons needing the nursing care can be moved to the built-in toilet stool 14 while being kept on the toilet seat 1. The conveyance wheel 102 in this example is provided with a height adjustment means and a stopper.
The toilet seat 2 is mounted on a support 31 for the toilet seat on the frame member 3. A general U-shaped toilet seat 2 may be adapted to be mounted longitudinally reversely as shown in FIG. 8 so that a gap 21 of the toilet seat 2 can be changed in position to the rear side. The feature that the gap 21 of the toilet seat 2 is set to the rear side and the provision of a cut 32 on the toilet seat support 31 at its rear central part make open the rear side of the toilet seat 2 and the toilet seat support 31 as seen in FIG. 9(a). Thus, when the toilet seat 2 is lifted up by the raising device 6, there is provided a wider space between the toilet seat 2 and the portable toilet stool 11 as shown in FIG. 9(b). In this situation, the nursing care providing persons can quite readily perform taking care of excretions. FIG. 10 shows the state that the user is subjected to taking care of by the nursing care providing person. In this example, a belt 33 is provided at the frame member 3 to support the body of the user.
The above-said function can be obtained also by such toilet seat 2, other than the U-shaped type, as comprising two members to define a gap between them at the front and rear central parts as shown in FIG. 11, without necessity of detaching and re-mounting operation. In addition, since the gap at the front side is larger, the toilet seat 2 is readily usable for men's urinating.
The lifting toilet seat 1 is structured to mount the toilet seat 2 to the toilet seat support 31 on the frame member 3. Thus, the toilet seat 2 may be replaced with a sheet 22 as shown in FIG. 12 to enable the seat system to be made use of as a chair. In this case, the sheet 22 may be lifted up and moved down to thereby supplement user's sitting on and standing up.
As a further example of use of the lifting toilet seat 1 according to the present invention, a shift supplementing means 15 is mounted, as shown in FIG. 13, to make easy the shift to the lifting toilet seat 1. The shift supplementing means 15 is provided between the bed B and the lifting toilet seat 1 used indoor in a bed room or a hospital room so that the user can shift from the bed to the lifting toilet seat 1, with the state of sitting being kept and without standing up. In this example, a fixing part for fixing the railing 7 and the grip 8 to the frame member 3 is made use of as a connecting part 34 for the shift supplementing means 15. The reason that the fixing part is commonly used as the connecting part 34 for the shift supplementing means 15 is because in case that shifting to the lifting toilet seat 1 with the state of sitting being kept is desired, the railing 7 and the grip 8 are to be removed.
In case of using the lifting toilet seat 1 connected with the shift supplementing means 15, the raising function of the lifting toilet seat 1 is basically not needed. When the nursing care provid ing persons are to be entrusted regarding taking care of excretions and the subject as foregoing, the shift supplementing means 15 may be removed to enable the toilet seat 2 to lift and go down. In this case, the body of the user may be held by the belt 33 and there is no need of standing up from the lifting toilet seat 1, so that no mounting the grip 8 and railing 7 is not problematic.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION

As seen from the above, the lifting toilet seat according to the present invention includes a structure of a toilet seat to be caused to lift and go down by a raising device, the structure comprising a toilet seat; a frame member which supports the toilet seat, is provided with a railing at both lateral upper sides of the toilet seat and also with a grip at the front upper side of the toilet seat and further provided at the lower end with a fulcrum at the front lower side of the toilet seat; and a base having a connecting part with which the fulcrum of the frame member is pivotally connected, the grip protruding upwards with respect to the upper end of the railing and being provided at an upper end of a projection projecting upwards from a position located forward of and away from the railing. Hence, any patients having weak legs can do excrete with ease without pains and a feeling of uneasiness. Also, the present invention has quite useful advantages such as that it is simple in structure and cheap to manufacture.

Claims

1. A lifting toilet seat including a structure of a toilet seat to be caused to lift and go down by a raising device and comprising: a toilet seat; a frame member which supports the toilet seat, is provided with a railing at both lateral upper sides of the toilet seat and also with a grip at the front upper side of the toilet seat and further provided at the lower end with a fulcrum at the front lower side of the toilet seat; and a base having a connecting part with which the fulcrum of the frame member is pivotally connected, the grip protruding upwards with respect to the upper end of the railing and being provided at an upper end of a projection projecting upwards from a position located forward of and away from the railing.

2. A lifting toilet seat as set forth in claim 1 wherein the grip is provided with a switch for the raising device.

3. A lifting toilet seat as set forth in claim 1 wherein a support for the toilet seat of the frame member has a cut at the rear central part and can mount a U-shaped toilet seat longitudinally reversely.

4. A lifting toilet seat as set forth in claim 1 wherein a support for the toilet seat of the frame member has a cut at the rear central part and the toilet seat comprises two members longitudinally paralleled mutually and having a central longitudinal interval between them.

5. A lifting toilet seat as set forth in claim 1 wherein the frame member is provided sideways with a connecting part for a shift supplementing means.

6. A lifting toilet seat as set forth in claim 1 wherein the base member installs a portable toilet stool on the upper surface.

7. A lifting toilet seat as set forth in claim 1 wherein the base member is provided with a fitting part for a built-in toilet stool.

8. A lifting toilet seat as set forth in claim 1 wherein the base member is provided with a conveyance wheel enabling the lifting toilet seat to be moved with a person being kept on the lifting toilet seat.